When Rick Santorum first ran for the Senate in 1994, he campaigned as a feisty outsider, scourge of congressional pay raises and perquisites, a conservative ready to rout the Washington liberal establishment. The Pennsylvania Republican rode to a surprise victory on the same wave that gave the GOP control of both houses of Congress and established Newt Gingrich as the party's leading force.

The hallways of the Cannon House Office Building resembled a vast junk yard. Piles of assorted institutional furniture lined the corridors, a banged-up desk here, a worn file cabinet there. A green St. Patrick's Day hat formed a still life with a half-full plastic highball glass, amber with cigarettes. A gooseneck lamp lay stricken in an apparent lethal back flip. Down the way, the friendly face of Rep.

The major races in the South: Senate races: 7 House races: 137 Governor: 8 * Governor--Incumbent Democrat Jim Folsom was running neck and neck with his GOP challenger, Fob James Jr., with three-fourths of the vote counted. * House--Four of the seven seats were held by Democrats before the election, and that division did not change.

For the first time in decades, a substantial majority of registered voters say they are inclined to vote for a Republican for Congress in the fall elections, according to a Times Mirror survey--an inclination that, if it persists for the next four weeks, would lead to large GOP gains. The survey, conducted by the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press, found 52% of registered voters saying that they intend to vote Republican while only 40% said they would vote for a Democratic candidate.

The three women enjoying lunch at H.R.H. Dumplin's Cafe and Bake Shop across from the Dyer County Courthouse agree on one thing: They can't find much to complain about. All three offer the same upbeat assessment of life in this quiet town about 90 minutes north of Memphis: good schools, little crime, a booming economy. But their opinions diverge when it comes to politics, especially the surprisingly tight Senate race between three-term Democratic Sen.

Rep. Mike Huffington (R-Santa Barbara) has grabbed the national spotlight by pouring more than $27 million of his own money into his bid for a U.S. Senate seat, but he is merely the most visible example of a phenomenon that is rewriting the rules of congressional campaigning. Across the country, wealthy candidates are spending millions of dollars on their own races.

Flags were at half-staff over the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in memory of retiring Rep. Dean A. Gallo (R-N.J.), who died over the weekend, but stunned Republican and Democratic congressional staff members on Capitol Hill saw the flag instead as a fitting symbol for a world turned upside down. "I was in San Francisco during the earthquake and I see the same look on the faces of Democratic staffers today that I saw on people walking around San Francisco back then," said Republican aide Tom Hoope.

Flags were at half-staff over the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in memory of retiring Rep. Dean A. Gallo (R-N.J.), who died over the weekend, but stunned Republican and Democratic congressional staff members on Capitol Hill saw the flag instead as a fitting symbol for a world turned upside down. "I was in San Francisco during the earthquake and I see the same look on the faces of Democratic staffers today that I saw on people walking around San Francisco back then," said Republican aide Tom Hoope.

The major races in the South: Senate races: 7 House races: 137 Governor: 8 * Governor--Incumbent Democrat Jim Folsom was running neck and neck with his GOP challenger, Fob James Jr., with three-fourths of the vote counted. * House--Four of the seven seats were held by Democrats before the election, and that division did not change.

On the last big election night, members of President Clinton's inner circle cheered, stomped their feet, kissed each other and delivered impassioned speeches about their plans to show Washington and the country how government could work. They didn't do any of that Tuesday night. The Clinton White House weathered Election Day '94 with weary stoicism mingled with dread about a future that appeared likely to contain Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

About every week, 10 or so Democratic strategists planning President Clinton's role in the 1994 election campaign gather in the White House basement under the leadership of Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes. Trouble-shooter Ickes' new job as campaign overseer, which drains time away from his efforts as political point man for the Administration's health care reform proposal--the White House's No.

Many of the 71 Senate and governorship seats on the line in November elections are shaping up as high drama, but others appear to be snoozers. Here, according to the American Political Hotline, is the likelihood that the person/party in control will be ousted, on a scale from 1-5, 1 being the greatest chance for turnover. (Open seats are in caps) Senate Ratings The Democrats currently control the Senate, 56-44. In the November elections, 35 of those seats are up for grabs.

November 8, 1994 | DAVID LAUTER and ROBERT SHOGAN, TIMES STAFF WRITERS

Candidates across the country prepared Monday to put their fates in the hands of the voters as campaign '94 snarled to a frenetic, hotly competitive, close. With the arrival of Election Day closing one of the most dramatic and bitter midterm elections in many years, several crucial races remained too close to call, including those on which control of the Senate and the House will hinge.